Round 8 of the Wagners Risdon Cup saw the Toowoomba Bears travel out to Condamine to take on the Cods at the ‘Fish Tank’, and it was the Cods who came out firing at home with the Bears not getting out of their cars.
The Cods quickly piled on the points and with Kim Mcgregor scoring the first and getting the Cods up 38-3 at halftime. But it was a game of two halves where the Bears were slow to start the second half again with Condamine running in another try. From that point on the game was all the Bears as they fought back vigorously but it was too little too late as Condamine celebrated a 45-24 win at home on Saturday.
In Dalby it was a top of the table clash and 2017 Grand Final rematch, with the Goondiwindi Emu’s travelling up to Dalby to take on the Wheatmen and get a little bit of redemption back after the 2017 Grand Final.
Both sides were strong in defence but the result came down to taking attacking opportunities when they arose as neither side wanted to budge in defence. The Emus did that perfectly on the weekend, pouncing on the opportunities and turning outstanding defence into entertaining attacking raids. Strong performances from Levi Power up front and ball distributor Will Gilbert saw Goondiwindi travel home with a 29-19 win.
Highfields had the bus trip out to Roma this weekend and much like the Bears, they were stuck on the bus as the home team came out firing. With both sides still looking to get their first win of the 2018 season it looked like Roma would walk away with the win in the early stages of game, but the Highfields Redbacks fought back and showed great character.
As both sides traded blow for blow they knew they were in a physical battle, but unfortunately neither side could capitalise on a final opportunity to take the lead. In the end both sides went home not feeling very excited or disappointed in what was a 17 all draw at Gallas Fox Park in Roma.
USQ Saints played host to the other uni students of the competition as Gatton made the trek up the range. It was the Gatton Blackpigs who started strong and with a tries to Hahns Spierling and Todd Daniels they were in the lead 13-0 in the first 30 minutes.
However, USQ had too much experience for the young Gatton side as they turned themselves around and showed their class to score 20 unanswered points to win the game 20-13 at the USQ Rugby Oval.
